The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,181

room. Seel groaned aloud. What had possessed him to behave in that way last night? It was almost as if some outside agency had taken control, made him fanatically determined to take Flick to Immanion, whatever the consequences. This morning, it seemed ridiculous. A suspicion stole across Seel’s mind. What interest could Thiede have in Flick?

That’s just a convenient excuse, Seel thought. You were bad, and you know it.

He bathed and changed his clothes, then went to the room where Flick had been confined. His heart was heavy. He had no idea how to make amends. But he found the door unlocked and the room beyond it empty. Swift must have let Flick go. Seel rarely argued with his consort, and he felt shaken by the harsh words they’d exchanged the previous night. It took a lot to make Swift angry. Seel reflected, rather bitterly, that Thiede had been right. Whatever manipulations had occurred during the initial stages of his relationship with Swift, genuine feeling had quickly superseded them. Seel liked living in Galhea, even though he knew that some hara harboured grudges and resentments about him. His occasional bad temper, which he fought to control nowadays, had contributed greatly to his life in Saltrock with Flick being ruined. He must not make the same mistake again.

Glumly, having no idea what to expect, Seel went downstairs. The family were gathered in the dining room, sitting around the large table, eating breakfast. Cobweb was the only one to say, ‘Good morning.’

Swift wouldn’t even look at him, and both Tyson and Azriel quickly left the room, embarrassed. Cobweb stared ruefully at his half finished meal, then sighed and said, ‘I suppose I should go as well. Don’t take too long making up, will you? We have guests later.’

After Cobweb had left the room, Seel said, ‘Did you let Flick go?’

Swift inhaled long and slow through his nose. ‘Cobweb and I did, yes. What are you going to do about it?’

‘Nothing,’ Seel said, and sat down next to Swift, who was at the head of the table. ‘Do the words ‘I’m sorry’ carry any weight?’

Swift glanced up at him. ‘I’ll consider them.’

‘I mean it. I was foul. You were right to let Flick go.’

Swift paused for a moment, then said, ‘Do you still want him?’

‘What? No! It wasn’t about that.’

‘It was about several things, I think. Will you tell Pell you’ve seen Flick?’

Seel nodded. ‘I think I should. Our Gelaming guests will no doubt have taken care of that, in any case. I’d like to ask Pell to come here for a day or so, if that’s OK. This might sound like an excuse, but I’m not sure I was totally myself last night. I think Thiede might have had a hand in how I felt. Pell and I should discuss the implications of that.’

‘You can go to Immanion if you want to. You don’t have to ask Pell here just to please me.’

‘I don’t want to go to Immanion,’ Seel said. ‘It would be preferable for Pell and I to talk here.’

‘Do what you think is right.’ Swift pushed his plate away from him and stood up. ‘I have things to do.’

‘Swift,’ Seel said, ‘please forgive me. I didn’t mean half of what I said.’

‘I love you with all my heart,’ Swift said, ‘but at the moment I’m angry with you. It’ll pass. You’re forgiven, but I need time to forget.’ As he walked behind Seel’s chair, he let his hand rest lightly on Seel’s head for a few moments.

After he’d gone, Seel closed his eyes and basked in the atmosphere of the room. He spoke aloud: ‘Thiede, you are a sly and manipulative beast, and I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’d just like to say this. You were right about one thing. And I will fulfil the prophecy you made: thank you.’

Pellaz came to Galhea the same day. While Cobweb and Swift entertained some Parsic dignitaries from a neighbouring town, Pellaz and Seel sat upstairs to talk in private. Pellaz didn’t want anyhar knowing the Tigron was in Galhea and it hadn’t gone beyond Seel’s notice that Pellaz also preferred to avoid running into Tyson, perhaps for obvious reasons. Seel talked about Flick and his suspicions concerning Thiede, but once the story was out, Pellaz only said, ‘Why didn’t he want to see me, Seel?’

Seel sighed. ‘Pell, I’ve never told you everything about Flick and me, because some of it does not show me in a good light